are jubilant and express their joy. Happier than they
ever were before, they relieve Lancelot of his arms, and lead him away
exultingly.

(Vv. 7120-7134.) My lords, if I should prolong my tale, it would be
beside the purpose, and so I will conclude. Godefroi de Leigni, the
clerk, has written the conclusion of "the Cart"; but let no one find
fault with him for having embroidered on Chretien's theme, for it was
done with the consent of Chretien who started it. Godefroi has finished
it from the point where Lancelot was imprisoned in the tower. So much he
wrote; but he would fain add nothing more, for fear of disfiguring the
tale.

----Endnotes: Lancelot

Endnotes supplied by Prof. Foerster are indicated by "(F.)"; all other
endnotes are supplied by W.W. Comfort.

[Footnote 41: Marie, daughter of Louis VII. of France and Eleanor of
Aquitaine, married in 1164, Henri I., Count of Champagne. On the
poet's own statement below, she furnished him with the subject matter
("maitere") and the manner of treatment ("san") of this romance. (F.)]

[Footnote 42: The situation of Camelot has not been certainly
determined. Foerster places it in Somersetshire, while F. Paris
identified it with Colchester in Essex. (F.)]

[Footnote 43: The high value here set upon Kay by king Arthur is worth
noting in view of the unfavourable light in which Chretien usually
portrays him.]

[Footnote 44: This enigmatic exclamation is addressed to the absent
Lancelot, who is the secret lover of Guinevere, and who, though he long
remains anonymous as "the Knight of the Cart", is really the hero of the
poem.]

[Footnote 45: It was not uncommon in old French romances and epic poems
for knights to be subjected to the mockery and raillery of the vulgar
townspeople (cf. "Aiol", 911-923; id. 2579-2733; and even Moliere in
"Monsieur de Pourceaugnac", f. 3).]

[Footnote 46: For magic beds with descending swords, see A. Hertel,
"Versauberte Oertlichkeiten", etc., p. 69 f. (Hanover, 1908).]

[Footnote 47: The wounded knight is the defeated seneschal.]

[Footnote 48: Mediaeval knights were such early risers as to cause us
astonishment!]

[Footnote 49: Lancelot has constantly in mind the Queen, for whose sake
he is enduring all this pain and shame.]

[Footnote 410: i.e., the Queen.]

[Footnote 411: Nothing can here be added to the tentative conjectures of
Foerster regarding the nature of these unknown remedies.]

[Footnote 412: A great annual fai